I listened to President Trump’s comments today on Air Force One as he returned to D.C. (thanks to NewsNation coverage), and he continues to maintain that Venezuelan leaders are “cooperating” with the U.S. in the aftermath of the capture and extraction of President Nicolás Maduro.
On the final question presented to him — whether his aim was to take over the country’s oilfields or to exact regime change — the president said his goal was “peace on earth.” Of course, on first blush that statement can be fairly laughable since we destroyed Venezuelan infrastructure and killed who knows how many.
But this brings me back to the point I’ve been making ever since Trump first started the military build-up against Venezuela — that he’s doing this in reaction to the Nobel Peace Prize having gone to a Venezuelan, one Maria Corina Machado.”I’ll show those prize voters,” he vowed, in my way of viewing things.
Case in point: In the aftermath of the invasion’s success in capturing Maduro, Trump said the U.S. would run the country. Asked if that meant giving Machado a role, Trump insisted she lacked the “support or respect” of the Venezuelan people. Huh?
As for the cooperating part being shown by Venezuelan leaders, the country’s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, has demanded that we return Maduro and his wife and said, “We will never be slaves again.” The country’s defense minister, Vladimir Padrino, has spoken out for the country to rise up in arms against the invaders.
Trump, in response to Rodriguez’s comments, warned that her fate might be worse than Maduro’s if she doesn’t cooperate.
I thought they were already cooperating, Mr. President.
I suppose by “peace on earth,” Trump means the Nobel Peace Prize should finally be his, but in the meantime, let’s see what happens in Venezuela. Does the military dictatorship dig in, or do they cooperate with Trump and company? Who wins this game of political poker?
N.B.: After writing this, I learned via BBC, not American media, that Rodriguez, at her first cabinet meeting, called for the U.S. to cooperate with Venezuela, not vice versa.
